Hundreds of new “co-living” apartments will arrive in Manchester city centre, but not as many as the developers expected.
The Vita Group, as a component of its Union housing branch, had requested permission to build two towers at the former Granada Studios in the St John’s district.
More than 1,600 shared beds were proposed, as studies, on the empty lot of Water Street.
But The Manchester City Council planning committee voted to reject plans for the smaller 32-story tower, called ‘T1’, which will return to an upcoming assembly to hear the reasons for the refusal.
The committee is not convinced of the scope of development, the concept of placement or studies that would not meet the board’s area standards.
T1 would have 870 beds in 390 shared apartments ranging from two to 4 bedrooms and 180 smaller studios.
John Cooper, speaking on Vita’s behalf, said: “The proposals will invest 190 million pounds in the city in an ideal location for regeneration and will be provided through a leading elegance in residential development.”
The studios would only be available for six-month rentals and would be aimed at young graduates or city staff who wanted a place to paint at home for a short period of time.
A monetary agreement between the city council and Vita would allow short-term rentals, collection of municipal taxes and apartments in default.
But Councilman Jon-Connor Lyons said, “I know we’re saying it’s only six months, but if someone stays in a position that doesn’t meet our standards, I don’t think we approve.”
Councillor White stated that the request would be consistent with the cohabitation policy followed by the council in July, which advised a “prudent” technique by restricting new developments to 5,000 units.
“I understood that this would be done with some pilots and some small-scale programs to read about this untested model,” he said.
The commission voted against the approval of the plans for these reasons, such as the “inadequate” lack of parking spaces on site.
Similar grounds for refusal were given for the time being for the 26-storey T2 building, which had 806 seats and 3 floors committed to providing coworking for tenants.
But Councillor Mary Watson considered T2 to present a greater opportunity to “test” the cohabitation style than T1, and said, “I think it’s a threat to both the developer and the city to check something new.”
The resolution to adopt T2 followed with a vote of singles, with seven councillors voting in favour, six against and one abstention.